


Where the Flowers Bloomed

by retribution



Series: Rei x Senpai (Samurai AU) [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Body Worship, Butterflies, M/M, Samurai, Senpai-Kouhai Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 19:03:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4636680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retribution/pseuds/retribution
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a secret tryst in the gardens, in sunlight by water, to the sound of whispers and the feeling of an ink brush over your skin</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where the Flowers Bloomed

The sun glittered off the fine transparent threads of the web, as the spider delicately traversed across the silk strand, causing the web to sway gently.  Only a short distance away, one of the myriad of colorful butterflies that lived in this pavilion garden flitted back and forth, ever closer to a beautiful impending death. 

Paused in his reading aloud, Rei watched in dread, before he decided he could not refrain from interference and he reached over to shoo the butterfly away from the web that would surely entangle its delicate wings. Hand outstretched, he made a gentle waving motion, then suddenly felt something cold and wet brush against his neck.  Startled enough to yelp aloud, Rei whipped his head around to find Haruka, holding a dripping ink brush and staring at him in quiet curiosity.

“Why did you stop reading, Rei?” Haruka asked simply.

“Ah, I got distracted. My apologies, Haruka-senpai!”  Out of the corner of his eye, Rei noticed in dismay that his effort was for naught.  The butterfly had gotten itself entangled in the web.  The spider was slowly approaching.

“Wh-where was I?” Rei murmured anxiously, scanning the page for where he last left off, eager to move on with the tale of romance and adventure.  For Haruka once said he liked the sound of Rei’s voice, and nothing made Rei happier than these stolen peaceful moments alone in the pavilion, reading aloud while Haruka painted.

“It’s fine, Rei.”  Haruka touched cool fingers to the small blotch of ink that stained Rei’s skin, right over his collarbone.  In silence, he spread the drying ink out in elegant lines with his fingertips while Rei watched, breath held. 

Beautiful, he thought in awe.  Everything Haruka touched became beautiful, no matter how dark and ugly.  How he adored Haruka, so, so much, how he treasured every moment he spent in the light that shone from his hero and idol. 

“May I continue?” Haruka asked, having retrieved his brush and inkstone from his workspace.

“Of course!” Rei answered, and shyly lowered the collar of his kimono down over his shoulders.  He blushed when Haruka lightly tugged his kimono down further, exposing the bare skin of his back to the spring breeze.  But Haruka dove immediately into his painting, this time using Rei’s skin as his silk, running the brush over his shoulders and back with skillful strokes.  All the while, Rei strove to stay perfectly still, not even daring to breathe more than the shallowest breath.  This was a bit of an unusual move from Haruka, who always did his own thing, so long as it did not really involve contact with others, but Rei dared not disturb his concentration by asking pointless questions that would not be answered.

If only he could see what Haruka was painting across his back…  What a pity that he did not have a mirror with him.

At last, Haruka paused in his painting, and Rei glanced over his shoulder, catching only a blurry tracery of black lines across pale skin through the lenses of his glasses.

“Haruka-senpai?  Have you finished?”

“I think… I could do more.”  With no further explanation, Haruka laid down his brush and reached around to tug at the knot of Rei’s obi, undoing it so that his kimono fell open.  “Now lay on your stomach, Rei.”

Nodding red-faced, Rei spread his kimono on the grass before him, then lay on the silk, resting his chin on his forearms.  Above him, Haruka adjusted Rei’s long thick hair over his shoulder, exposing the nape of his neck as well.  This time, Rei could not hold back the small shudders, as ink dripped wetly over his neck, down his spine, pooling in the small of his back.  He gasped softly when he felt Haruka’s hands adjust his undergarment, sliding them over his buttocks, down his legs.  Trembling in anticipation, goosebumps mottling his flesh, as swirls and dabs of ink decorated his thighs and calves. 

“Beautiful,” he thought he heard Haruka breathe out.  He turned his head slightly when he noticed the rustle of blue silk slide to the grass on his right, and then Haruka was leaning down next to him, pressing his lips to Rei’s.

“The ink needs to dry, so please stay still for a little while longer.”

“Of course, Haruka-senpai.”

He said nothing when he felt Haruka’s hands caressing his body, his shoulderblades, his waist, his thighs, surely smudging the work of art he had just created.  The transience of such fleeting beauty was art itself, Rei thought heatedly.  What they were creating here, out of inspiration and movement and love, this was art.  He was merely the medium, Haruka was the creator.  Understanding that, Rei took the spirit of Haruka’s brilliance into him with pleasure.  So much pleasure…  He thought he could die.

**Author's Note:**

> for the prompt "butterfly pavilion" for a belated reixsenpai week. I'm just starting from the back of the prompt list, and filling everything using various samurai alternate universes, inspired by the original AU I wrote, but with various changes of course.


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